Former AC Milan sporting director Massimiliano Mirabelli has said that he expected Frederic Massara and Paolo Maldini to resign rather than be sacked by the club.
Speaking during an interview with 1 Football Club (via Milan News), the former Rossoneri man appeared to show a lot of sympathy for Maldini and Massara.
He explained that people in that role cannot be judged only on the results of the team and he feels they had earned the right over the past few years to prove their worth in the job under the new ownership.
For that reason, it came as a surprise to Mirabelli that the managers were sacked rather than left on their own accord.
“You can’t call it a bolt out of the blue, the frictions were known. The path taken by Maldini, Massara and Pioli is absolutely positive. It’s not like because your name is Milan you are called to a compulsory path. Yet, the club has achieved important goals both in the league and in the Champions League,” Mirabelli began.
“For this reason, it is a choice I do not fully agree with. Managers should be considered for the results, and those collected in recent years are absolutely positive. The Rossoneri managers would, therefore, have deserved to be confirmed and to be able to continue to prove themselves in the Rossoneri. More than a dismissal, I would have expected resignations.”
He was then asked specifically about their performance in the transfer market and he used Charles De Ketelaere as an example of a signing that should not be judged after a single season playing for Milan.
“Absolutely, but not only that. There is a lot of talk about the disappointments of this year’s market, De Ketelaere above all. These are players who would need an understandable period of acclimatisation, as has happened before with other players,” he explained.
“On the other hand, the hard core of this Milan is made up of players whose arrival is a credit to Maldini and Massara. For me, the judgement is super positive, especially knowing the club’s lack of availability. When you call yourself Milan, you cannot think of competing by reducing the wage bill and focusing exclusively on young players. I would have expected, rather, a contract extension.”
